Should single men be allowed to buy a baby? Obviously not, you might think. But since 2019 British men have been legally allowed to obtain a child though the surrogacy process.

When a baby is born to a surrogate, they are often taken from their mother shortly afterwards, to prevent infant and mother bonding (in this country it is illegal to take a puppy from its mother before it is eight weeks old). A man can then apply for a ‘parental order’, in which a court will legally make them the child’s parent, without the full checks which an adoption would require. In the UK it is illegal to ‘pay’ a woman to be a surrogate but ‘reasonable expenses’ are typically between £10,000 to £15,000 – and can exceed £20,000.

We know that men are vastly more likely to abuse unrelated children than women are. We know that 91.3 per cent of child sexual abusers are male. And we know that paedophiles relentlessly seek out opportunities to access victims

We know that men are vastly more likely to abuse unrelated children than women are. We know that 91.3 per cent of child sexual abusers are male. And we know that paedophiles relentlessly seek out opportunities to access victims

And this only applies in the UK. Almost three-quarters of parental orders are now granted in relation to babies born abroad. This means that people are going overseas and buying babies via commercial surrogacy, circumventing the British ban on this practice. A British ‘surrogacy agency’, My Surrogacy Journey,........

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